Three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo suffered a fractured rib at the weekend's season-opening Qatar MotoGP, his Honda team announced on Tuesday.

The Spanish rider tweeted that he is confident about his fitness for the second race in Argentina on March 31, despite admitting he would be out for three weeks to a month.

"Fissure of the first rib on the right side, 3 weeks/1 month to recover. We will fight in Argentina," Lorenzo wrote.

The 31-year-old joined Honda at the end of last year to form a formidable partnership with five-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez, who was beaten into second place in Qatar by Lorenzo's former Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso.

Lorenzo crashed in the third practice session last week in Doha and ended up finishing the race in 13th place.

He had already been recovering from a broken wrist suffered during the off-season.